Chief Niles Caulder

48 years ago - 21-year-old Caulder is hired by Vandal Savage to replicate his immortality effect. When he realizes what his work will be used for, Caulder manages to escape, but the resulting explosion leaves him in a wheelchair. He is subsequently subtly effected by Savages immortality effect, subtly reducing his aging.

43 years ago - 26-year-old Caulder is called upon to save the life of Cliff Steele, and does so by creating Robotman.

2 years ago - 67-year-old Caulder recovers Rita Farr's body & manages to bring her back. He is later killed by Prometheus.

The original run of the Doom Patrol is a stylish slice of pulp entertainment, and ended with a literal bang when the team sacrificed their lives together in an explosion at sea. After that, the team's various returns were marked with a penchant for retroactive rewrites, having whole chunks of their story removed from character's memory without much explanation. The continuity minefield the team had become provided ample fodder for Grant Morrison's seminal run on the team, making them a true work of Dada art in comic form.

One of the most prominent elements to be retroactively altered in the Doom Patrol is the very nature of the Chief himself. He was a distant, mysterious authority figure that had saved the team's lives, turning them into freaks who were also heroes. There was admittedly a sinister notion to it, but it wasn't until later that it was decided that he had actually CAUSED the accidents that had created each member of the Patrol. This idea has been bounced back and forth from writer to writer for a long time, but in a team when even the very simple question of 'what is actually going on here?' is a tricky one, nailing down the Chief's true motivation has never been an accomplishable task.

The Doom Patrol is the DC equivalent of the X-men, and Chief is their Professor X. He's a reclusive genius whose medical expertise has been called on to save people in horrible accidents, and has occasionally had to do some unorthodox, perhaps even unethical things with some of his patients, and he now spends his fortune to give his patients a home and a purpose, and to try to make the world a better place.